Customer satisfaction for restaurants : An analysis of TripAdvisor reviews

Abstract

Customer satisfaction is the gap between a customer’s initial expectations of a product or service and when they utilize the product or service. Social media, on the other hand, is an interconnected platform that allows customers to interact with sellers and at the same time allows customers to interact with other customers on the same platform. TripAdvisor is one of the many applications, available on the internet, which serves the traveling community. TripAdvisor holds up to 490 million active monthly users and receives 7000 new reviews per hour. The aim of this study was to analyze customer satisfaction of 9 hamburger restaurants in Helsinki with an average rating above 3 stars according to TripAdvisor, excluding large fast-food chains. A content analysis of TripAdvisor reviews was applied to achieve the aim of the study. The study was limited by the investigated number of restaurants, period of reviews and the choice of the platform. The analysis showed that quality of food and quality of services are the most mentioned topics in the reviews. Customers value the freshness of ingredients and the ‘home-made’ feature more than the atmosphere in the restaurant and its location. It was also revealed that the most popular topic of positive comments on the food was regarding the taste of the French fries. Failing to keep customers satisfied can negatively affect the restaurant’s ratings as well as decrease customer loyalty.